


Dreaming Of Better Times

by ready_to_kick_some_ass



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Post season finale, Remembrance, Short One Shot, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-09 02:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14707106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ready_to_kick_some_ass/pseuds/ready_to_kick_some_ass
Summary: Mack can't sleep. He's afraid to close his eyes. Afraid of the images in his head. Elena provides comfort. (Post Season Finale)





	Dreaming Of Better Times

**Author's Note:**

> So ... the season finale.  
> Well.  
> It shattered my heart and now I have to write. That's how I deal with things.  
> This short ficlet is for Mack, who must be traumatised after this experience.  
> I feel so sorry for him ...  
> I hope you like it a bit! (Not a native speaker, please tell me about major mistakes, that would be great)

Mack can’t sleep. He’s lying on his bed, staring into the void. The only sounds in the room are Elena’s soft breaths beside him and the steady rain outside.  
Mack sighs and rubs his temples. He’s exhausted. As exhausted as he’s never been in his life. But he can’t close his eyes. Because when he does, he sees it all over again.

Fitz. Fitz’s pale face. His wide open eyes. His trembling body. The blood. So much blood … When he closes his eyes, he feels Fitz’s hand in his, feels it slacken as he takes his last breath. It’s too much. The pain is a raging fire in his heart. It tears him apart.

 _It’s not fair_ , Mack thinks. _It’s not fair … he went through so much. Survived so many horrors. Fought so many demons. - only to die like this. It’s not fair._

And he knows, that Jemma thinks, there’s another Fitz in space. That there’s hope they will get him back. There’s hope. But still … Fitz died in front of his eyes today and it was real. His best friend died and he couldn’t do anything to save him. He will never get those images out of his head. Will never forget Fitz’s last words. They will haunt him forever.

_Mack, I think my legs are broken …_

He doesn’t even notice that he’s sobbing, until Elena suddenly wraps her arms around her. They are cold. But still comforting. She presses her face into his neck. “Mack,” she whispers, her breath warm against his skin. “Mack … I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But please … you have to sleep. You need rest. We all do.”

Mack shakes his head. His eyes are burning. Crying hurts today. Everything hurts. “I can’t. I'm afraid of what's waiting for me in the darkness,” he whispers back.

“Oh Mack,” she breathes. Suddenly, her arms around him disappear. The bed creaks as Elena gets up. She leaves. Mack remains, still crying helplessly. Silently.  
  
After a short while, she comes back, with a glass of water in her hand. She hands it to him, with a sad smile. Mack wipes the tears off his face and sits up slowly. His body feels so heavy. Heavy with pain. Heavy with loss. He takes the glass and drinks. The cool water is balm for his sore throat. When he finishes, Elena takes the empty glass and puts it away. Then, she sits down beside him and lays an arm around his shoulder. “Do you want to talk about him?” She asks.

Mack swallows. “I don’t know if I can,” he finally says quietly.

Elena nods. She looks at him, her eyes full of sorrow and love for him. “It could help you. Could help you to get all the thoughts out of your mind. I’m here and I will listen, Mack. Just listen. Talk to me. Empty your heart.”

And after a short moment of hesitation, he starts talking. He talks about how he first met Fitz. A Fitz, who isolated himself and struggled with the changes, that came with his brain injury. He talks about how they started to become friends. He smiles when he remembers the calm, peaceful evenings they had spent together. Playing video games and eating unhealthy but delicious snacks. Elena smiles too, while listening to his stories. 

Mack talks for what seems like an eternity to him. In the end, he feels lighter. The pain is still there, but it’s a distant throb. It’s buried now under memories of better times. Under memories of battles they fought and won. He sighs. He’s so tired. At some point they lay down on the bed again. Elenas head is on his chest. She lets her fingers run over his body slowly. It’s comforting and hypnotic. 

“I miss him,” Mack says.

“Me too,” Elena answers. “We will get him back, Mack. It won’t be the same Fitz. But he’s our Fitz. He is your friend. He’s part of our family. And he's out there. I don’t ask you to stop mourning, Mack. I just ask you to accept that Fitz is not gone.”

Mack nods. His eyes fall shut. He doesn’t have the strenght to hold them open anymore. “Yes,” he mumbles. “We will get him back. And this time I will do the right thing. Find the right words. This time, I will make sure that he doesn’t go through the personality split. This time I know what's going on inside his mind. I’ll help him …”

“You will, Mack,” Elena says softly, kissing his nose. “We all will.”

And Mack finallly falls asleep. He dreams of the past. Of better times.


End file.
